Neo Vipassana Res 2010 1 A Retrospective Correlational study of the Effect of Vipassana Meditation and Personality Traits of the Vipassana practitioners at Govind Milk & Milk Products Pvt. Ltd. (Govind Dairy), Phaltan, Satara A Research Report Neelam Oswal, PhD Clinical Psychologist Phaltan, 415523, Maharashtra, India December 2010
55
Embed
Neo Govind Project report final - Vipassana Research Institute · 2019-05-11 · 1hr 9lsdvvdqd 5hv $ 5hwurvshfwlyh &ruuhodwlrqdo vwxg\ ri wkh (iihfw ri 9lsdvvdqd 0hglwdwlrq dqg 3huvrqdolw\
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
Neo Vipassana Res 2010 1
A Retrospective Correlational study
of the Effect of Vipassana Meditation and
Personality Traits of the Vipassana practitioners at
CONCEPTION AND RATIONALE OF THE PRESENT PROJECT: ................................................................................. 9 THE TECHNIQUE OF VIPASSANA: ................................................................................................................ 10 THE DIFFERENTIAL BENEFITS OF VIPASSANA RETREAT: .................................................................................... 12
REVIEW OF LITERATURE ................................................................................................................... 14
A. VIPASSANA AND PERSONALITY: ............................................................................................................. 14 B. OUTCOMES OF VIPASSANA: ................................................................................................................ 16
C. THE DIFFERENTIAL PROCESSES DURING A VIPASSANA RETREAT: .................................................................... 19 D. VIPASSANA PRACTITIONERS IN A SINGLE ORGANIZATION: ............................................................................ 20
RESEARCH METHODS ....................................................................................................................... 21
OBJECTIVES: .......................................................................................................................................... 21 THE VARIABLES: ..................................................................................................................................... 21 THE HYPOTHESES: .................................................................................................................................. 22 THE DESIGN OF THE STUDY: ...................................................................................................................... 23 RESEARCH TOOLS: ................................................................................................................................... 24 THE PLACE OF THE RESEARCH: ................................................................................................................... 25 THE SAMPLE: ......................................................................................................................................... 26 THE PROCEDURE: .................................................................................................................................... 27 DATA ANALYSIS: ..................................................................................................................................... 27
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................... 28
I. THE OUTCOMES AT ORGANIZATIONAL LEVEL .............................................................................................. 28 II THE INDICATORS OF EFFECT OF VIPASSANA AND THEIR INTER-RELATION ......................................................... 29 III. PERSONALITY FACTORS RELATED TO THE EFFECT OF VIPASSANA: ................................................................. 31
A. Personality factors and Mindfulness: ....................................................................................... 32 Anxiety: .................................................................................................................................................... 32 Super-ego/Control (SC): ........................................................................................................................... 34
B. Personality factors and Perceived changes in life after Vipassana: .......................................... 35 Problems in the assessment of personality traits: ........................................................................ 38
IV. EFFECT OF VIPASSANA AND VIPASSANA RELATED VARIABLES: ...................................................................... 38 V. THE LEARNING AND THERAPEUTIC PROCESS IN A VIPASSANA RETREAT: .......................................................... 39
a. Motivation to attend a Vipassana retreat: ............................................................................... 40 b. The initial difficulties in a Vipassana retreat: ............................................................................ 40 c. The process of learning Vipassana: ........................................................................................... 41 d. Therapeutic factors: .................................................................................................................. 42 e. Comparison of persons with high and low Mindfulness: .......................................................... 44
APPENDIX III: THE FIVE FACET MINDFULNESS QUESTIONNAIRE (FFMQ) ........................................... 52
APPENDIX IV: THE QUESTIONNAIRE FOR INDIVIDUAL INTERVIEWS ................................................. 54
Neo Vipassana Res 2010 5
List of Tables TABLE 1: SAMPLE GROUP IN THE PRESENT STUDY ............................................................................................... 26 TABLE 2: VIPASSANA RELATED CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SAMPLE GROUP ................................................................ 26 TABLE 3: MEAN AND SDS OF THE INDICATORS OF THE EFFECT OF VIPASSANA .......................................................... 30 TABLE 4: INTER-RELATION BETWEEN MINDFULNESS AND PERCEIVED CHANGES AFTER VIPASSANA ............................... 30 TABLE 5: SECOND ORDER PERSONALITY FACTORS AND THE EFFECT OF VIPASSANA .................................................... 31 TABLE 6: INTER-CORRELATIONS BETWEEN FACETS OF MINDFULNESS AND PERSONALITY FACTORS ................................ 32 TABLE 7: EFFECT OF VIPASSANA AMONG NEW AND OLD MEDITATORS .................................................................... 38 TABLE 8: THERAPEUTIC FACTORS PERCEIVED IN A VIPASSANA RETREAT .................................................................. 42 TABLE 9: LEARNING AND THERAPEUTIC PROCESS OF PERSONS WITH HIGHER AND LOWER MINDFULNESS....................... 44
List of Figures FIGURE 1: FLOW CHART OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS ........................................................................................... 23 FIGURE 2: FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION OF SCORES OF VPPR .................................................................................. 36 FIGURE 3: FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION OF SCORES OF FFMQ ................................................................................ 36 FIGURE 4: RELATION BETWEEN EFFECT OF VIPASSANA AND PERSONALITY TRAITS ..................................................... 37
Neo Vipassana Res 2010 6
The Story of ‘Vipassana Movement’ at Govind Dairy, Phaltan As narrated by G. M. Dhumal, the Managing Director
Govind Milk & Milk Products private Limited has started functioning in Phaltan since
1996. The management has started sending its employees for Vipassana retreats since
2000. The Managing Director of the organization has attended few Vipassana retreats
even before that. On the basis of his prior exposure to Vipassana, he had thought that
Vipassana retreats would be useful to deal with problems like indiscipline among his
employees.
He started experimenting by sending few persons for a Vipassana retreat initially. After
observing the noticeable changes among these persons, he got convinced about its
utility and started sending all the employees to a retreat one by one. His experience has
been that a person may not understand the technique of Vipassana properly in the first
or second retreat, which is why he keeps asking his employees to attend retreats again
after a certain time gap. Some of the employees themselves ask for being sent to a
retreat once in a while.
At present the total staff of the Dairy is around 300. If the number of people associated
to the Dairy like farmers suppling milk, distributors and marketing personnel are added,
this number becomes around 500. Of these 500, around half of the persons have
attended Vipassana retreats so far. The number of Vipassana retreats attended by each
person in the Dairy range from 1 to 8.
Even now, every month a group of new and old meditators (new meditators are the
persons who attend a Vipassana retreat for the first time; whereas old meditator is a
person who has attended a retreat before) is sent for a retreat at the Vipassana centers
either in Pune or Kolhapur. The Management has also created a space for group
meditation, which is close to the Dairy in Phaltan. A group meditation is conducted
there for one hour on every Sunday, attending which is voluntary in nature.
The major benefits of the ‘Vipassana movement’ for the organization as reported by the
Management are:
Neo Vipassana Res 2010 7
1. A trust is built up between the Management and the employees. Most of the
employees could easily approach the Management after a Vipassana retreat.
2. There have been fewer fights among the employees.
3. Employees have taken more responsibility of the work, which has improved the
quality of their work.
Individual interviews with few employees also support the outcomes of Vipassana
reported by the Management. Employees mentioned improved abilities like decision-
making, problem solving and planning. They also reported change in individual
characteristics like persistence, energy and concentration of mind. These changes are
reported to be useful for taking more responsibility in work as well as better
relationships with superiors as well as colleagues.
The major categories of the outcomes of a Vipassana retreat as reported by the present
sample group are as follows:
Health
Reduced physical and psychiatric problems
Improved resilience
Emotion related outcomes
Being able to arrest negative thinking
Being able to control and manage anger
Improved work place behavior
Improved inter-personal relationship
Thus, Vipassana movement has been very much beneficial for Govind Milk & Milk
Products private Limited. Vipassana has helped even an ordinary intelligent person in
the Dairy to contribute towards the excellence of the organization. Attending a
Vipassana retreat has created many positive changes like honesty, assertiveness, risk
taking at individual level. These changes have reflected in the improvement of the
organizational environment, once several employees have attended Vipassana retreats.
However, the Managing Director cautions against using Vipassana as a universal
remedy for indiscipline related problems in any organization. He suggests that
Neo Vipassana Res 2010 8
Management personnel should be the first one to attend a Vipassana retreat. If only
employees are sent for a Vipassana retreat, which teaches a philosophy of non-reactivity
in broad terms, there might be a feeling of resentment among them.
--
Vipassana movement is not only limited at Govind Dairy.Vipassana retreats are
conducted at different centers all over the world. They are being attended by many
people. These people do appreciate and get benefited by the ancient technique of
Vipassana Meditation. Still, all of them are not equally benefited by these retreats. In
fact some do drop out from a retreat.
Now, the question is why people have different benefits from the same technique!
In order to answer this question, the present research project was carried out at Govind
Dairy, Phaltan. 53 persons who had attended various number of Vipassana retreats were
selected randomly from all the employees who had attended such retreats in the Dairy.
It was thought that benefits of Vipassana might be related to personality characteristics
of these people.
A personality test 16PF was used to assess the personality of these people. The two
indicators of Effect of Vipassana in the present study are Mindfulness as assessed by
Five Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire and Perceived changes in life as reported on a
self designed questionnaire, Vipassana Parinam Prasnavali.
Few persons (n = 15) of the total sample (n = 53) were selected and interviewed
individually in order to explore their individual learning and therapeutic process in a
Vipassana retreat.
The results showed that Mindfulness is significantly correlated with two global
dimensions of personality, namely, Anxiety and Super-ego/Control as assessed by the
personality test, 16PF used in the present study.
It was also observed that the therapeutic factors perceived in a retreat by persons with
high Mindfulness are different from the ones perceived by persons with low
Mindfulness.
Neo Vipassana Res 2010 9
A major contribution of the present study is the empirical data to support the
hypothesized relation between effect of Vipassana and Personality traits, though a
further study with experimental design is necessary to confirm these findings.
----
INTRODUCTION
Conception and Rationale of the present project: The present project has been carried out among the persons, who have attended various
number of Vipassana retreats, in an organization producing dairy products in a suburban
part of Western Maharashtra. This project has been intended to be a preliminary one
for exploring the hypothesized relation between personality traits of Vipassana
practitioners and the effect of Vipassana, especially Mindfulness (Sati). Vipassana, an
ancient Indian technique of meditation taught by the Buddha, aims to liberate human
beings from suffering and to attain mental purity. It is possible with the thorough
understanding of the impermanence and insubstantiality of phenomena within and
around. Developing Mindfulness is the first step towards this goal. Mindfulness, a kind
of non-elaborative, non-judgmental and present centered form of awareness is
described to be an outcome of Vipassana Meditation.
The idea of such scientific exploration of this ancient technique has been conceived
during the 10 day Vipassana retreat of the present Researcher at Dhamma-Giri, Igatpuri.
Vipassana courses in their present form have been started in India and abroad since
1969 by Shree. S.N. Goenka, who has been a student of Sayagyi U Ba Khin, an ardent
Vipassana Meditator and Teacher from Myanmar(VRI, 1992). Many people are getting
benefited by this technique since then. The positive effect of Vipassana meditation on
various physical and mental indicators is also being studied since 1970s (Parihar, 2004).
Still, a general observation shows that there are few people who do drop out from a
Vipassana course, an observation which has also been confirmed by a Vipassana
Teacher (Dr. Nikhil Mehata, Pune, Personal communication, January 2010). The
question ‘Why do some persons drop out from a Vipassana retreat, when many
anecdotal and research report suggest the beneficial effects of Vipassana?’ has been the
motivating one for the present project. It has been hypothesized that the individual
Neo Vipassana Res 2010 10
personality traits of the practitioners might be mediating the effects of Vipassana. The
possible role of the personality characteristics of Vipassana meditators in the
differential benefits of Vipassana has been thought to be an important next step in the
scientific exploration of Vipassana Meditation, which has already been started by some
researchers assessing the effect of Vipassana through scientific methodology.
Such an exploration would be important for extending the benefits of Vipassana for
special population like persons with mental illness. Besides, it would also give
important insights for spreading this ancient method of liberation from suffering to the
people who need such a technique, but do not appreciate Vipassana retreats at present,
though they are very less in number.
As said in the discourses by S. N. Goenka (1987) Buddha himself was against being
content only with ‘received’ or ‘intellectual’ wisdom. Hence trying to answer any doubt
like why the technique of Vipassana is not beneficial for some people, though very little
in number, through scientific methods would be very much in the spirit of Buddhism.
The differentiation among religion, philosophy and psychology as put forth by Lama
Angarika Govinda (1991), one of the interpreters, thinkers and meditation masters in
the field of modern Buddhism, has been useful to underscore the spirit of scientific
enquiry generated in the mind of the present researcher during the 10 day Vipassana
retreat.
According to the Lama Govinda (1991) “…the religious side of Buddhism is the one
which has been established by experience, just as a path is formed by the process of
walking. Philosophy is the definition of its direction and psychology is the analysis of
the forces and conditions that favor or hinder the progress on that way”.
This contention delineates and also establishes the role of psychology for the wide-
spread utility of any distress relieving technique borne in the framework of religion.
The technique of Vipassana: The word ‘Vipassana’ literally means looking within. The Noble Eight-fold path for
liberation from suffering as taught by the Buddha has three aspects: sīla or morality,
Samādhi or developing mastery over one’s mind and Panna or wisdom. Sila consisting
of purity of vocal and physical action and right livelihood are the rules of behavior.
Neo Vipassana Res 2010 11
Samadhi involves right effort to train mind, right awareness of the reality of the present
moment, and sustaining this awareness continuously from moment to moment. Panna
involves right understanding of the cause of suffering and right thoughts or intentions
(Goenka, 1987).
A person learns the technique of Vipassana Meditation in a 10 day retreat at present.
There are follow-up retreats of one or three days. Prolonged retreats of 20, 30 or 45
days are also designed for advanced meditators. Observing the rules of morality or Sila
sets the framework of a Vipassana retreat. In a Vipassana retreat a person is taught
three techniques, Anapana or observing bare breath, Vipassana or observing the
sensations throughout the body and Metta or meditation of loving-kindness.
A student, the person who attends a retreat, has to follow Noble silence for all the days
except for the last day of the retreat. Noble silence means not to communicate with
fellow meditators in any way. Students can speak to the teachers only for clarifying any
doubts related to the technique in a stipulated time. They also can speak to Dhamma
Sevak/Sevikas, the volunteers for the retreat, in case of any practical problems. A
student is supposed to sit straight with spine erect for Vipassana Meditation. The daily
schedule consists of 10 hours of meditation, spread over six sessions of either 1 or 2
hours, and 1 hour of discourse. The student is asked to complete his/her chores in the
scheduled breaks in between.
In a 10 day retreat, the first three and half days are spent achieving concentration of
mind through the practice of Anapana or observation of breath. If a person is not able
to feel his/her breath, he/she is asked to take a deep breath once in a while in order to
facilitate the observation of bare breath. Otherwise the technique does not involve any
kind of breath manipulation. Imagery or any object other than breath is not involved for
the purpose of concentration. After achieving stable level of concentration, the
meditator gradually starts observing bodily sensations at the present moment. The
sensations may be of any kind like pleasant or unpleasant, subtle or gross. The Metta
Meditation is taught on the last day of a retreat. It involves generating in mind love,
friendliness and kindness for all the beings around.
Neo Vipassana Res 2010 12
It is suggested that the participants practice meditation regularly for two hours (one
hour in the morning and one hour in the evening) after a retreat for the continuing
benefits of Vipassana. The one hour meditation at home is supposed to start with
observing breath or Anapana. But a meditator spends maximum time of this time
observing sensations. A meditation sessions ends with five minutes of Metta
meditation.
According to Goenka (1987), the importance of morality (sila) or concentration
(samadhi) for eradicating human suffering was known even before the time of the
Buddha. It was commonly accepted that mental defilements (negative emotions like
anger, fear, hatred or mental stress) are the source of suffering, that craving and aversion
must be eliminated in order to purify mind and attain liberation. The unique
contribution of the Buddha lies in his understanding of the importance of
sensation as a missing link between the external object and human reaction to it.
Our negative reactions like aversion are actually a reaction to the unpleasant sensations
generated by an external object and so are the positive reactions.
The technique of Vipassana asserts that if the sensations are observed with equanimity,
despite their nature, it would lead to a path of wisdom on which one starts getting
liberated from suffering. The main objective of Vipassana meditation is to develop a
moment to moment awareness of sensations and equanimity towards them. It is
intended to facilitate experiential understanding of the impermanent nature of reality
through developing an insight into physical and mental contents at every moment
(Goenka, 1987).
The differential benefits of Vipassana Retreat: Although Vipassana Retreat proposes to teach a universal path for eradication of
suffering (Goenka, 1987), the benefits of Vipassana are not equal for everybody. Many
people do not want to enroll for a Vipassana retreat, because of one of its striking feature
namely the Noble Silence. People who dropped out of Vipassana retreat, whom the
researcher met by chance, gave reasons like food not being of their preference, physical
pain, or fear of being converted to Buddhism, for not completing the Vipassana retreat.
One person had completed the course, but had complaints about the philosophy of non-
Neo Vipassana Res 2010 13
reactivity. Thus variable appreciation of Vipassana retreat might influence the decision
of attending or completing a Vipassana retreat or accepting the philosophy of Vipassana
and practicing the technique in post-retreat period.
Ayyar (1990) a practicing psychiatrist, who is convinced about the therapeutic potential
of Vipassana, suggests attending a Vipassana retreat to his patients. Though most of
them are benefited by that, he notes a resistance among some of his patients for
attending a Vipassana retreat. The reasons for this resistance identified by him are
perception of Vipassana as a Buddhist technique, unrealistic expectations from a retreat
(e.g. three techniques in ten days are too less), not being prepared for going to a helping
agency other than their own psychiatrist. Ayyar further suggests that scientific study of
individual developmental experiences and mental make-up of the drop-outs from a
Vipassana retreat would throw light on the differential benefits of Vipassana.
The casual observation that some individuals do not want to attend Vipassana retreat
because of the rule of Noble Silence leads to a speculation that personal preferences of
extraversion or introversion might be related to variable appreciation of Vipassana.
As per the theory of psychological types, proposed by C.G. Jung, “…though introverts
are interested in the external world, their main concern is with the effect the object has
upon them. On the contrary, in an extravertive person mental activity proceeds from
object to subject. Such a person is hardly aware of himself if there is no external form
of attention..” (Bennet, 1961). Thus, a predominant concern for an introvert person is
his/her own thoughts and feelings rather than the outside world and social interaction,
which is the main concern for an extravert person.
In a Vipassana retreat a person is asked to concentrate only on bare breath. Attaching
any mantra or counting breaths or labeling sensation is strictly avoided. A person is
asked to follow Noble silence to facilitate the looking within, as any communication
starts ripples of sensations and thoughts. As per the theory of psychological types,
complete absence of an external object in a Vipassana retreat might be making it
difficult for a completely extraverted person to follow the technique of Vipassana.
Nonetheless, personality research has progressed quite a lot since the conception of
psychological types by Jung. There is a consensus among personality researchers at
present that it is better to place a personality factor on a continuum of the trait rather
Neo Vipassana Res 2010 14
than on a dichotomous personality type (McCrae & Costa, 1989). For example, a person
can have more or less extraversion and cannot be completely introvert or extravert.
There is also an agreement that most of the personality characteristics can be classified
in one of the five factors of the Big Five model of personality, namely, Neuroticism,
Extraversion, Openness to change, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness.
Thus, the hypothesis that personality traits of Vipassana meditators might be
related to the effects of Vipassana has been generated by following three things:
by listening to the experiences of the people who have not attended or dropped
out of a Vipassana retreat.
by reading reports of mental health professionals who have tried to utilize the
technique of Vipassana for their clients, and
by reviewing the history and trends in personality research at present.
The Buddha has proclaimed that anybody and everybody whoever learns and follows
this technique regularly would attain liberation from mental impurities and suffering
one day or the other. Nonetheless, the above-mentioned hypothesis suggests that
individual personality characteristics might be reflecting in the decision of attending or
not attending a Vipassana retreat, completing a retreat once enrolled and finally
continuing the practice regularly.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
A. Vipassana and Personality: So far, Vipassana researchers have used change in personality characteristics as one of
the outcomes of Vipassana. For example, in the empirical study of Tihar Jail inmates
who have attended a Vipassana retreat (N = 120), Chandiramani, Verma and Dhar
(1995) assessed the effect of Vipassana on personality characteristics at 3 and 6 months’
interval after attending Vipassana retreat, along with other variables like anomie,
hostility, helplessness, and psychiatric illness. They had used 18 item Indian adaptation
of Eyesenck’s PEN inventory for assessing personality. The results showed that of the
three personality types (Extraversion, Neuroticism, Psychoticism) measured by PEN
inventory, Psychoticism showed initial reduction after Vipassana which was not
maintained. Neuroticism reduced immediately after the retreat, but the follow-up at 3
Neo Vipassana Res 2010 15
and 6 months showed that the scores of Neuroticism were unstable. There was no
significant difference in the scores of Extraversion after a Vipassana retreat.
In a second study by the same team of researchers in Tihar Jail, a control group of
convicts who have not attended Vipassana retreat (N = 65) was involved. The
Personality Trait Inventory based on MMPI, which was used in this study, assessed
However Anxiety does not have significant relationship with all the facets of
Mindfulness. It is negatively correlated only with Act-aware (AAW) and
Non-judgmental-ness (NJ). These two facets are associated with the awareness and
equanimity respectively, which are the aims of Vipassana Meditation.
The results are partially in alignment with the results of Baer, Smith, Hopkins,
Kreitemeyer & Toney (2006). This group has found negative correlation between
Mindfulness as assessed by FFMQ and Neuroticism as measured by NEO personality
inventory, a parallel for the global dimension Anxiety in Big Five model. However,
unlike the present study they have found that Neuroticism, has significant negative
relation with all the facets of Mindfulness except for Observe (Obs). Of course, the
participants in the study by Baer et al., had not learned Vipassana Meditation as in the
present study.
Interview with a person, who has higher score on Anxiety (A) suggests the possibility
of co-existence of Anxiety as a trait and clinical level of anxiety. Anapana and
observing sensations had helped this person for calming down his mind during earlier
retreats (n=3). However he could not get insights into his chronic conflict with his
mother despite the three retreats. The conflicts were reported to be the main reason for
his present disturbing situation characterized by anger explosion, irrational behavior,
intolerance, confused state of mind and guilt over all these things. He is aware that
Vipassana would be useful to relax him again, but could not sit for a retreat due to his
increased BP.
Narration by this person suggests that Vipassana would be perceived as a method of
relaxation by some persons high on Anxiety. But the effects of Vipassana would not be
Neo Vipassana Res 2010 34
long-lasting, unless insight is developed in the mental content, which is one of the aims
of Vipassana Meditation.
Super-ego/Control (SC): The global personality factor Superego/Control (SC) is positively correlated with
Mindfulness (See Table 5 & 6). People with high SC have internalized the rules of the
milieu in which they function. Hence they conform to the expectations by self or others
and are perceived as reliable. People with low SC do not act according to other’s values
or out of a sense of duty, but they follow their own impulses. They may not be as self-
disciplined as some situations may require and may be perceived as unreliable at times.
Mindfulness is significantly correlated with both of its constituent primary traits, which
are Superego strength (factor G) and self concept control (Factor Q3).
Super-ego/Control has significant positive correlation with only one facet of
Mindfulness, namely Acting with awareness (AAW). Super-ego/control does not seem
to be related to any of the facet of Mindfulness which represents the equanimity aspect
of Vipassana meditation, namely NJ or NR.
Two persons with low Super-ego/Control were included in the sample group of the
latter part of the present study. A commonality between their narrations was that both
of them have mentioned a part of life which could not be benefited after Vipassana
retreat. One of them narrates that the technique of non-reactivity was useful in order to
deal with her alcoholic husband. However, the same technique would not be useful, if
her son commits a mistake. Another person reports that though he started remaining
quiet after Vipassana retreat, the conflict between his wife and mother persisted. He
had to move out of the joint family due to these conflicts and it makes him very sad.
The narrations by both these cases suggest that their understanding of Vipassana mainly
involves not having to react to undesirable events. The other aspect of Vipassana,
namely awareness of bodily sensations and mental contents in any kind of situation
either pleasant or unpleasant seem to have eluded both these persons with low SC.
Neo Vipassana Res 2010 35
Another interesting finding is that both these personality factors, A (M = 5.98, SD =
1.69) and SC (M = 6.06, SD = 1.99) are negatively correlated with each other,
r(51) = -.44, p = 0.001. However, the present correlational findings do not indicate
anything about the direction of influence between the combination of these personality
traits and Mindfulness. Besides, it also does not clarify whether state (situational) or
trait (characteristic) level of anxiety is more related to Mindfulness. Considering that
changes in the clinical level of anxiety have been reported by many researchers studying
positive effects of Vipassana Meditation (Dhar & Khurana, 2002; Khosala, 1989, Miller
et al., 1995; Nathavat et al. 1989), this further differentiation between state and trait
anxiety would prove useful for the therapeutic utility of Vipassana Meditation.
B. Personality factors and Perceived changes in life after Vipassana: The significant positive relationship between Perceived changes after Vipassana and
Extraversion (Table 5) is interesting considering that Extraversion is unrelated to
Mindfulness in the present study, a finding which is in alignment with previous studies
by Baer et al. (2006). The personality factor Extraversion was found not to be affected
by Vipassasna even by Chandiramani, Verma & Dhar (1995) who assessed change in
personality as an outcome of Vipassana with Indian adaptation of PEN inventory by
Eyesenck.
The finding is even contradictory to our initial observation and hunch as explained in
the Introduction that extrovert people would less likely to appreciate Vipassana retreat
due to its striking feature of Noble silence. A possible explanation for this contradiction
might be that even a small change after Vipassana would be reported as significant
more often by Extraverts as compared to Introverts, if a compulsion is made for them
to attend a Vipassana retreat. It is also possible that the factor Extraversion is related
with the decision of enrolling or not enrolling in a Vipassana retreat, but not with
Mindfulness. It would be interesting to note relative percentage of Extraverts and
Introverts among the people who enroll for a Vipassana retreat and among the ones who
either drop out or complete the course.
Comparison of the frequency distribution of FFMQ scores and VPPr scores in the
present samples suggest one more and important possibility as an explanation for this
discrepancy in the personality factors related to Mindfulness and Perceived changes.
Neo Vipassana Res 2010 36
Figure 2: Frequency distribution of scores of VPPr
Figure 3: Frequency distribution of scores of FFMQ
The negatively skewed graph of VPPr scores (Figure 2) versus normal graph of FFMQ
(Figure 3) scores suggest that the number of people who have reported higher changes
in life after Vipassana are more compared to the ones who have developed higher
Mindfulness. The fact that most of the persons have attended at least the first Vipassana
retreat on suggestion by the management of the employing organization, and Vipassana
Neo Vipassana Res 2010 37
Parinam Prasnavali asking directly for any changes in life because of Vipassana leave
a lot of scope for social desirability effect.
Hence the results about the relation between personality factors and Perceived changes
are not analyzed further. A more sensitive tool to assess the changes in life after
Vipassana retreat or confirming the present findings in a group of people who have
attended Vipassana retreat on their own is necessary in future studies.
Still, Figure 4 summarizes the relation between Mindfulness (FFMQ scores), Perceived
Changes in life (VPPr scores) and global dimensions of personality as observed in the
present study.
Figure 4: Relation between Effect of Vipassana and Personality traits
EFFECT OF VIPASSANA
Mindfulness Changes in life
A SC EX I
INDEX: Double line of arrow: r significant at 0.01 level Single line of arrow: r significant at 0.05 level Plain line: +ve relationship, patterned line: -ve relationship A: Anxiety, SC: Super-ego/Control, EX: extraversion, I: Independence
Neo Vipassana Res 2010 38
Problems in the assessment of personality traits: There may be a discrepancy between self reporting of a personality trait and observation
by others. This was observed in the case of a person who was selected for personal
interviews as representative of low anxiety. The people in management in the
organization had an impression of him as a very anxious person. The person himself
mentions that he used to be so tensed before attending Vipassana Retreats (n =3) that
he would have symptoms like headache and vomiting, if he was stressed during the day.
But these psychosomatic symptoms are reduced after Vipassana retreats, though he is
still perfectionistic in his work. He might have given answers reflecting less of anxiety
in order to underscore the change perceived as produced after attending a Vipassana
retreat in him. The observed discrepancy suggests the necessity of a tool for personality
assessment which would involve both, self report as well as observation by others in
further studies.
IV. Effect of Vipassana and Vipassana related variables: Time since the first retreat:
In the present sample, as the time since first retreat ( M = 5.60 years, SD = 3.02, N =
Perceived changes in life after Vipassana (M = 49.25, SD 4.94) also reduce along with
the time since the first retreat, but not significantly, r(47) = -0.02, p = 0.87.
Number of retreats:
The individuals in the present sample are categorized in 3 groups as per the number of
retreats attended by them, namely New Meditators, Old meditators and Old-old
meditators. The mean scores of Mindfulness and Perceived changes of each of this
group are presented in Table 7.
Table 7: Effect of Vipassana among new and old meditators Mindfulness Perceived changes in life
Category name N M SD M SD
New meditators 27 85.96 10.93 49.11 5.27
Old meditators 18 83.61 6.42 48.56 5.13
Old-old meditators 08 81.88 7.85 51.25 2.92
Neo Vipassana Res 2010 39
Total 53 84.55 9.16 49.25 4.94
No significant difference in the mindfulness score of these three groups was observed,
F(2,50) = 0.749, p = 0.48. Similarly no significant difference in the scores of perceived
changes of these three groups was observed, F (2,50) = 0.850, p = 0.438
Frequency of practice of meditation:
The frequency of practice of Vipassana meditators (M = 2.49 , SD = 0.80, N = 53) does
not have any significant correlation with FFMQ score, r(51) = 0.24, p = 0.08 or any of
the facets of Mindfulness. However, it is significantly related with total score of VPPr,
r(51) = 0.30, p = 0.03, and its factors, General attitude r(51) = 0.28, p = 0.05and
Relationships r(51)= 0.31, p = 0.02
These findings together suggest that Mindfulness developed after attending a Vipassana
retreat reduce along with the time, unless a person does mediation regularly. Qualitative
analysis of the interview transcripts in the present sample show that most of the persons
in this group have considered attending a retreat at regular intervals as a substitute for
regular practice of Vipassana Meditation. However the findings clearly indicate that
only regular practicing of Vipassana Meditation and not number of retreats is strongly
correlated with the effect of Vipassana.
V. The Learning and Therapeutic process in a Vipassana retreat: The interview transcripts were analyzed qualitatively in order to understand the learning
and therapeutic process during a Vipassana retreat. The persons interviewed
individually were either the ones with high FFMQ or low FFMQ scores, or at the
highest or lowest end of the secondary personality factors, namely, A and SC with
which Mindfulness was significantly correlated. The interview transcripts were read
and classified in four main categories, Motivation to attend the retreat, Initial
difficulties in learning, Outcomes and transfer of learning, and Therapeutic factors and
process.
Neo Vipassana Res 2010 40
a. Motivation to attend a Vipassana retreat: The motivation of individuals to attend a Vipassana retreat in the present sample can
be categorized as either external or internal.
Persons who have attended Vipassana Retreat only because it was a compulsory part of
being in the organization, or for the anticipated benefits in the organization after a
retreat, or for the faith or fear of the superior who had suggested this were classified as
having External Motivation.
All the persons in this organization were asked to attend Vipassana Retreat at least for
the first retreat. In spite of that, the persons who have attended the retreat with a
curiosity, or to have a remedy for their weaknesses, to reduce their vices or to improve
concentration were classified as having Internal Motivation. This expectation of these
people was based on some information about Vipassana that they had received from
other sources or by observing the positive changes in others who have attended
Vipassana before in the organization.
The motive for attending the latter retreats:
The first retreat had introduced these persons to the possible positive outcomes of
Vipassana. So some of the persons who had external motivation to attend the first retreat
had opted to attend the second retreat after a gap on their own, when they observed that
their earlier weaknesses like low energy level, boredom or procrastination had started
growing again.
Some of the persons had external motivation even for attending the second retreat. For
example, some were told by others about the waning positive outcomes after the first
retreat. A few of them attended the second retreat also as a part of compulsory thing.
Many persons who felt that Vipassana would be beneficial for them after the first
retreat, considered number of retreats at regular interval as a substitute for daily practice
of Vipassana.
b. The initial difficulties in a Vipassana retreat: Most of the persons have faced difficulties initially in getting adjusted to the strict
regimen of long sitting hours, daily schedule of getting up early and following Noble
silence. Homesickness, feeling of being bound was reported by some persons. Guilt
Neo Vipassana Res 2010 41
over not being able to follow the rules like Noble silence or restlessness over not getting
adjusted had further perpetuated their difficulties. One person has reported fear of being
converted to Buddhism.
Some persons got habituated to the strict regimen within 3-4 days and the initial
difficulties reduced in intensity. A few talked to the assistant teacher about these
difficulties and sought his/her guidance. Prior mental preparation to face any difficulty
in a retreat, a resolution to learn the new technique, a sense of wonder about fellow
meditators who seem to be following the regimen are some of the factors which were
reported as useful to overcome the initial difficulties.
It has been observed that in general, persons with internal motivation were less
disturbed despite initial bodily pain due to sitting for long hours, or changes in
food or daily schedule.
c. The process of learning Vipassana: For many of the persons, experiences while following the teaching instructions during
meditation hours, supported by the discourses have led to the learning of the Vipassana.
A few have reported an initial period of understanding the theory intellectually without
any experiential learning, which was followed by a sudden moment of realization of
technique. The discourses have been a main source of learning for a small group of
persons. The discussion with other meditators on the last day had helped a person to
confirm his learning and experiences in the ten days of the retreat.
Some of the persons among the interviewed ones compared the technique of Vipassana
with other similar techniques they have learnt so far. Two of them reported that
Vipassana is more scientific, as in Vipassana bodily sensations are observed as they are
and not generated as they had seen in some other course. Another person said that he
has understood the true meaning of the religion he was following so far (Haripath)
through Vipasssana.
Following steps of learning were reported by persons who have understood the
technique completely:
Neo Vipassana Res 2010 42
After closing eyes, not attending to breath, instead getting engrossed in
thoughts, which was followed by gradual concentration on breath
Awareness of gross and subtle sensations
Realization that many different things can be called as sensations
Observing the breath and its touch when sensations were not apparent
Initial happiness over being able to observe sensations, later concentration on
the fact that every sensation is vanishing
Arising of many thoughts during the moments of not being able to observe
sensations, which reduces gradually with practice.
Observing sensation equanimously irrespective of their nature, pleasant or
unpleasant.
A few among the interviewed persons have associated Vipassana only with its
noticeable aspects like Noble silence or following virtues etc. A major group could
associate Vipassana with ‘concentration of mind’. Very few have perceived Vipassana
to ‘observing sensations without reacting to them’. In the present sample individuals
who have perceived Vipassana as a technique of ‘observing sensations without
reacting to them’ were benefited much more than the ones who perceived
Vipassana as ‘a technique for concentration’ of mind or equated it with ‘Noble
silence’.
d. Therapeutic factors: The main aim of Vipassana meditation is to make a person experience impermanence
(anicca) or egolessness (anattā), which is supposed to liberate him/her from suffering.
However people have reported many factors along with the experience of
impermanence as responsible for the perceived changes in their life after Vipassana.
These factors can be classified as the ones related to the nature of the retreat, related to
the technique and related to the process during meditation. Examples of each of these
categories as reported by the interviewed persons are listed in Table 8. Each individual
has reported a combination of therapeutic factors and not related only to any one
category.
Table 8: Therapeutic factors perceived in a Vipassana Retreat
Neo Vipassana Res 2010 43
Retreat related factors Technique related factors The process during
Vipassana Meditation
Being away from day-to-
day worries for 10 days.
Reduced number of
thoughts
Analysis of self behavior
Faith in Guruji, the
Vipassana teacher
Concentration of mind. Realization of self
mistakes
Discourses about virtues
Realization of the
impermanent nature of
pleasure and distress.
Past reminiscence while
observing sensations
Sense of achievement over
completion of a tough
retreat
A possibly altered state of
consciousness*.
A symbolic outlet of
repressed feelings during
meditation
*A term used for the description like ‘absence of a sense of self’, ‘A state of deep level
of concentration’, ‘sudden feeling of having energy’.
Although theory of Vipassana emphasizes experience of reality as it is, as a way for
relieving distress, some new meditators did report that the principal Vipassana teacher,
S. N. Goenka (the Guruji) may have healing power. For example, one person narrated
that when he met with a life threatening accident, he was sure that he would be
recovered as he was given Metta (loving-kindness meditation) by the Guruji. One
person got convinced about the healing power of Vipassana as the stone in his gall-
bladder reduced in size unbelievably after a Vipassana retreat and there was no
necessity to operate anymore.
One person has reported his inability to be benefited in the first retreat he attended, as
he was not able to follow the Noble silence in this retreat. In his second retreat, he
strictly followed all the rules of the retreat. The sense of achievement over the
completion of the tough retreat had facilitated many positive outcomes in the post-
retreat period.
Neo Vipassana Res 2010 44
The variety of therapeutic factors as reported by participants in the present study
suggest that the therapeutic process in a retreat may be facilitated either through the
devotion to the teachers, or through following the rules, regulations and the process in
a retreat, or through critical analysis of the theory of Vipassana. A possible explanation
for this variety might be that people have a predisposition to understand any distress
relieving technique either through analysis of the technique, or through devotion
to the persons teaching the technique or by following it in a ritualistic way.
Parallels for this threefold pre-disposition can be found in the concept of Jnana Marg
(Cognitive domain), Bhakti Marg (Affective domain) and Karma Marg (Conative
Domain) in Indian Psychology. At present there is no evidence for the existence of such
a predisposition, though a possibility has been suggested by the present findings.
e. Comparison of persons with high and low Mindfulness: The main objective of the qualitative analysis was to compare the learning and
therapeutic process of the persons who are at extreme ends of the personality factors
which are significantly correlated with Mindfulness, namely, Anxiety and
Superego/control. The present analysis has shown that similar learning and therapeutic
processes could be observed among persons with high and low Anxiety or high and low
Superego/control. However, these processes of the persons who have scored higher or
lower Mindfulness were different at least in some respects in the present sample. The
differences are summarized in Table 9 and discussed after that.
Table 9: Learning and Therapeutic process of persons with higher and lower Mindfulness Persons with high
Mindfulness
Persons with low Mindfulness
1 Motivation Internal External
2 Perception of
Vipassana
Learning equanimity to
sensations in any situation
Following virtues, not reacting in
a conflict, concentration of mind
3 Therapeutic
factors
Technique or process
related
Retreat related
Neo Vipassana Res 2010 45
Persons with high Mindfulness have understood Vipassana as learning equanimity to
sensations in any situation, whereas persons with low Mindfulness have associated
Vipassana only with following virtues or not reacting in a conflict. The therapeutic
factors in a retreat responsible for the benefits of Vipassana in the post-retreat period in
case of high Mindfulness persons were either related to the technique or the process;
whereas persons with low Mindfulness reported retreat related factors as responsible
for the benefits of Vipassana. Most of the persons with high Mindfulness report internal
motivation and experiential understanding of Vipassana and not just intellectual
understanding of the technique.
CONCLUSIONS The present study has been a significant preliminary step to explore the hypothesized
role of personality factors in the effect of Vipassana Meditation. A major outcome of
this study is an empirical evidence to support this hypothesis, though much more
research is required before concluding unequivocally about the role of personality traits
in the effect of Vipassana.
After completing this project, it can be concluded that Mindfulness or Sati, an outcome
of Vipassana Meditation is significantly correlated with two global dimensions of
personality, negatively with Anxiety and positively with Superego/Control, which have
significant negative correlation with each other. Anxiety has two aspects, state anxiety
and trait anxiety. It would be interesting to explore which aspect of Anxiety is more
related to Mindfulness.
The direction of causation between personality factors and Mindfulness is not clear
from the present correlational study. It is also not clear whether persons with the above
mentioned personality traits enroll for Vipassana retreats more often, or learn the
technique faster than others or are more benefited. A further research with experimental
design (A ‘before-after with control’ design) is necessary for this purpose.
The qualitative analysis in the present study has underscored the importance of
exploring the individual psychological process in a Vipassana retreat. It was observed
that each individual’s process of learning the technique of Vipassana and therapeutic
Neo Vipassana Res 2010 46
factors perceived in a Vipassana retreat by each individual were unique and were related
to the level of Mindfulness.
In the latter part of the present retrospective study, most of the respondents could share
only important happenings of the process in a retreat. Along with the passing time since
the last retreat, the details of the process were forgotten. To avoid this bias in narration
due to forgetting, a qualitative study has to be conducted before and immediately after
a retreat to understand the therapeutic and learning process in a retreat.
This retrospective project has been carried out in an organization where attending a
Vipassana retreat was suggested by the management and very few people attended a
retreat with internal motivation. To confirm the present findings it is necessary to carry
out a similar project involving persons who have attended Vipassana retreats on their
own.
-------
REFERRENCES Arya, V.S. (2001). Pulisa jana ke liye Vipassana sadhana. New Delhi: Police training
college.
Ayyar, K.S. (1990). The value of Anapana and Vipassana in psychological and
psychosomatic illnesses. In Vipassna – Addictions & Health: A Seminar,
December 1989, Dhamma Giri, Igatpuri. (pp. 26-30). Igatpuri, India: VRI.
Baer, R.A., Smith, G.T., & Allen, K.B. (2004). Assessment of mindfulness by self-
report: Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills. Assessment, 11, 191-206.
Baer, R.A., Smith, G.T., Hopkins, J., Kreitemeyer, J. & Toney, L. (2006). Using self
report assessment tools to explore facets of mindfulness. Assessment, 13(1),
Comparative biochemical studies on meditation. Indian Journal of Medical
research, 63 (12), pp. 1676-1679.
VRI. (1992). Gotama the Buddha: His life and his teachings. Igatpuri, VRI.
APPENDIX I: Informed Consent Form
Neo Vipassana Res 2010 49
Neo Vipassana Res 2010 50
Appendix II: Vipassana Parinam Prashnavali
Neo Vipassana Res 2010 51
Neo Vipassana Res 2010 52
Appendix III: The Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) 5-FACET M QUESTIONNAIRE Please rate each of the following statements using the scale provided. Write the number in the blank that best describes your own opinion of what is generally true for you.
1 2 3 4 5
never or very rarely true
Rarely True
sometimes true
often true
very often or always true
_____ 1. When I’m walking, I deliberately notice the sensations of my body moving.
_____ 2. I’m good at finding words to describe my feelings.
_____ 3. I criticize myself for having irrational or inappropriate emotions.
_____ 4. I perceive my feelings and emotions without having to react to them.
_____ 5. When I do things, my mind wanders off and I’m easily distracted.
_____ 6. When I take a shower or bath, I stay alert to the sensations of water on my
body.
_____ 7. I can easily put my beliefs, opinions, and expectations into words.
_____ 8. I don’t pay attention to what I’m doing because I’m daydreaming, worrying,
or otherwise distracted.
_____ 9. I watch my feelings without getting lost in them.
_____ 10. I tell myself I shouldn’t be feeling the way I’m feeling.
_____ 11. I notice how foods and drinks affect my thoughts, bodily sensations, and
emotions.
_____ 12. It’s hard for me to find the words to describe what I’m thinking.
_____ 13. I am easily distracted.
_____ 14. I believe some of my thoughts are abnormal or bad and I shouldn’t think
that way.
_____ 15. I pay attention to sensations, such as the wind in my hair or sun on my face.
_____ 16. I have trouble thinking of the right words to express how I feel about things
_____ 17. I make judgments about whether my thoughts are good or bad.
_____ 18. I find it difficult to stay focused on what’s happening in the present.
_____ 19. When I have distressing thoughts or images, I “step back” and am aware of
the thought or image without getting taken over by it.
_____ 20. I pay attention to sounds, such as clocks ticking, birds chirping, or cars
Neo Vipassana Res 2010 53
passing.
_____ 21. In difficult situations, I can pause without immediately reacting.
_____ 22. When I have a sensation in my body, it’s difficult for me to describe it
because I can’t find the right words.
_____ 23. It seems I am “running on automatic” without much awareness of what I’m
doing.
_____24. When I have distressing thoughts or images, I feel calm soon after.
_____ 25. I tell myself that I shouldn’t be thinking the way I’m thinking.
_____ 26. I notice the smells and aromas of things.
_____ 27. Even when I’m feeling terribly upset, I can find a way to put it into words.
_____ 28. I rush through activities without being really attentive to them.
_____ 29. When I have distressing thoughts or images I am able just to notice them
without reacting.
_____ 30. I think some of my emotions are bad or inappropriate and I shouldn’t feel
them.
_____ 31. I notice visual elements in art or nature, such as colors, shapes, textures, or
patterns of light and shadow.
_____ 32. My natural tendency is to put my experiences into words.
_____ 33. When I have distressing thoughts or images, I just notice them and let them
go.
_____ 34. I do jobs or tasks automatically without being aware of what I’m doing.
_____ 35. When I have distressing thoughts or images, I judge myself as good or bad,
depending what the thought/image is about.
_____ 36. I pay attention to how my emotions affect my thoughts and behavior.
_____ 37. I can usually describe how I feel at the moment in considerable detail.
_____ 38. I find myself doing things without paying attention.
_____ 39. I disapprove of myself when I have irrational ideas.
Neo Vipassana Res 2010 54
Appendix IV: The questionnaire for individual interviews
Questions:
1. How did you decide to attend a Vipassana Retreat? Where did you get to know about Vipassana? What was the motivating factor? Personal difficulties? Influence of Friends? Superiors? etc. 2. How did you like the 10 day Vipassana retreat? Which aspects of the retreat did you appreciate the most? Why? Which aspects of the retreat did you appreciate the least? Why? 3. How did you appreciate the discipline of Noble silence? Were you able to follow it? Did you ever feel the necessity to break the silence? Did you find it absurd? 4. What is the chief meaning of Vipassana according to you?
5. Did you ever have doubts about the technique during the retreat?
How was the doubt overcome? When did you realize that this is a useful technique?
6. Were you able to concentrate on breath and feel your sensations as instructed? What were obstacles in doing so? How did you overcome them? 7. In a one hour session of meditation what were your thoughts most occupied
with? Bodily pain The bell indicating the end of the session The record with the Teacher’s chanting Other meditators’ sneezing, coughing or their sitting capacity etc. Past memories and future aspirations
8. Was there any change in your mental pre-occupation along with the days in
the retreat?
9. Were your own deep rooted memories coming to consciousness as the Teacher said?
10. Were you able to look at those memories with equanimity without your usual
reaction?
11. Did you realize any of your mistakes or faulty thinking pattern as a result of Vipassana? How?
Neo Vipassana Res 2010 55
12. Has Vipassana retreat been useful for you in light of your reasons for attending it?
13. How has Vipassana been useful to you in the post retreat period?
14. Do you practice Vipassana meditation regularly after the retreat? Why? 15. Do you feel that any change in any of the aspect of the retreat or the technique would have been more useful for you?